I must say I had been buying AMAZING SPIDER-MAN every month, as much out of habit and nostalgia as anything else. Sort of like buying the current issues of FAMOUS MONSTERS, only AS costs 3 bucks! Anyway, this event was the jumping off point for me, between going to three issues per month and dumping all the storylines and continuity I'd been following for the last 20+ (literally) years. Sorry, not interested.

All the ads and hype I saw for this kept trumpeting NEW VILLAINS! NEW SUPPORTING CAST! NEW STORYLINES! NEW NEW NEW.

I don't want new villains, I want to see Spidey fight Doc Ock. It's weird that Marvel still can't accept that their audience is a bunch of 30ish and older guys who loved comics when they were kids and want to continue the experience into adulthood. They seem to think that if they can hit on just the right combination of novelty and flash, they can suddenly capture a new audience of teenagers. In fact, teenagers do not and will not read comic books, other than some manga. They get their Spider-Man fix from videogames and movies and will continue to do so. If Marvel and DC want to continue publishing monthly comics, they would do well to design them for the audience that actually purchases them. If they don't think this audience will sustain continued publication for the long haul, then they should (and probably will) seek a new business model for their intellectual property.

I hated typing this. I've drifted away from comics-related message boards because a huge percentage of the posts are relentlessly negative and critical. "This sucks." "That artist is a hack.", etc. even as they continue to spend fifty or a hundred bucks a month on comics. But this is honestly how I feel in this particular case. I've followed the life of Peter Parker since about 1973; I don't appreciate having the rug pulled out from under me because someone thinks changing the character will appeal to some imaginary kid out there, when I've been right there with my $.35 or $.50 or $2 or $3 every month.



Chris Herzog

"Moe! Larry! The Cheese!"

Last Edited By: zogstar67 Jan 11 08 1:07 PM. Edited 1 times.